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New Scientist Live

Fast CRISPR test easily detects Zika and antibiotic resistance

CRISPR has another trick up its sleeve. The system that sparked a revolution in gene editing can also be used in fast and cheap tests for pathogens.

A tool based on CRISPR has been shown to detect the Zika virus in blood, urine and saliva. It has been developed by Omar Abudayyeh and colleagues at the Broad Institute in Cambridge, Massachusetts, who call it SHERLOCK – for Specific High Sensitivity Enzymatic Reporter Unlocking.

So far, the CRISPR system has mostly been exploited as a gene editing tool, but it may also prove useful for medical testing. “Once we realised how the enzyme works, we saw that it could have unlimited applications in diagnostics,” says Abudayyeh.

As well as Zika virus, the team has also used SHERLOCK to detect antibiotic resistance genes in Klebsiella pneumoniae bacteria, and health-related gene variants in human saliva (Science, DOI: 10.1126/science.aam9321). They say the system has advantages over some other tests: it’s able to detect single molecules of genetic material among mixed samples, and can distinguish between genetic sequences that differ by only one letter. It’s also fast, working in about an hour, and can be adapted as a paper test costing only 61 cents – cheap enough to be used in a wide variety of settings.

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“As the next epidemic or viral threat comes up – for example, the next Zika or Ebola – we think there’s a lot of utility in using this for better surveillance for those outbreaks,” says team member Jonathan Gootenberg.

This article appeared in print under the headline “Gene editing adapted to detect Zika virus”